The Mafia Empire
Chapter 43: Chapter 43 Making High Proof Wine

Bottles of fruit wine were uncorked and poured into wooden barrels. Then, someone sent the barrels into the distillery, where the fruit wine was transferred into the distillation apparatus. The whole process was divided into many steps: the earlier stages required more people, while the later stages required fewer.

This arrangement was for secrecy, though whether the secret could be kept, Julian wasn't too optimistic about.

The Guar people, who had been forced to join the "gang" out of desperation, were indeed displaying loyalty for now. However, Julian doubted that this loyalty would last forever. Especially when, through distillation, the fruit wine that was originally worth about two dollars per bottle was transformed into a high proof illegal product worth ten dollars or more.

The enormous profits created a significant impact on the minds of these impoverished youths, enough to alter some people's values and life perspectives in a short time.

Loyalty, after all, is just a matter of price.

Once someone believed they had mastered this method and successfully tried it, Julian could easily imagine that a group of people would secretly leave, taking the distillation method with them to seek their own futures.

No one could guarantee that everyone would remain loyal forever, so, in Julian's mind, secrecy was no big deal.

Moreover, selling this high proof illicit alcohol wasn't part of his long term plan for the future. It was merely a way to raise funds and build his power. He even hoped that someone would manage to steal the technique and go independent. That way, he could rely on these people to consolidate the market for high proof alcohol sales within the Star Empire, establishing standards and an entry system.

As the temperature in the distillery rose, a humid heat hit. The moment the first drop of crystal clear liquid with a strong alcoholic aroma dripped from the spout, Graf trembled with excitement.

This wasn't just high proof alcohol; this was money, gold! From 150,000 bottles of fruit wine, factoring in losses, they could produce around 40,000 bottles of high proof alcohol. If they sold each bottle for just ten dollars, that would be 400,000. After deducting the 120,000 dollars in costs that Julian mentioned, the profit would be... Graf counted on his fingers—around 250,000.

His share was 40%, which meant about 100,000 dollars!

In an instant, his breathing became rapid 100,000 dollars!

One hundred thousand!

Even in his wildest dreams of becoming a millionaire, Graf had never possessed 100,000 dollars, not even in his fantasies. But now, it was within reach.

Unlike Graf, who was lost in his excitement, Julian calmly watched the alcohol drip from the spouts one by one. Others might see this as a highly profitable business with a huge market, and of course, they wouldn't be wrong. However, compared to the business giants in the commercial guilds, this money wouldn't even catch their eye.

Since he had started reading newspapers and books, Julian had gained a preliminary understanding of the entire Empire and even the whole world.

The most profitable industries in the world were always those that were monopolized, like the military industry. In the front of them all were various war machines, particularly the AT-11 war machinery and AT-12 mobile platforms, which were currently the most equipped in the Star Empire. Each of these machines cost over 200,000.

Expensive, right? One machine costing that much? What was more terrifying was that the Empire had equipped over 6,000 of these machines, according to reports. And what about the ones that hadn't been reported? Or the ones that could be assembled at any time?

If such industries were too high end, requiring a long process of accumulation and experience to enter, what about clothing, food, housing, and transportation?

What shocked Julian was that the most famous clothing stores in the entire Empire weren't chain stores like in his dream but individual tailors shops. From the Emperor and nobles to commoners, their clothes were either made by themselves or sewn by a tailor for money. Going to a store to buy ready made clothes? Sorry, there wasn't a single "department store" in the entire Star Empire.

Even if you went to a tailor's shop, you'd need luck to replace ready made clothes that fit.

Whether it was clothing, shopping malls, food, housing, or transportation, Julian saw each industry as a diamond mountain that hadn't yet been mined, and a high purity, high yield open pit diamond mountain at that. There was no need to dig—just chipping off a piece could make a person, or a company, leap to become one of the most influential brands in the Empire!

So this small business of high proof alcohol? Julian really didn't treat it as something precious.

The dripping alcohol gradually turned into a stream, and the rich aroma of liquor filled the room. Seeing that the barrel was nearly full, Julian immediately instructed someone to tighten the spout and push the nearly full barrel of "alcohol" aside. Then, they poured in the prepared fruit juice, stirred, and let it settle.

In about three hours, the alcohol mixed with fruit juice would turn into the popular "Snow Elf" and "First Love" drinks. Once bottled in the redesigned bottles and labels, under Julian's insistence, a bottle of ten dollar high proof fruit wine was born.

The reason Julian insisted that the three major suppliers strictly follow his design for the bottles and labels was to create confusion. Although he didn't treat bootlegging as his future primary industry, he still wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble.

When certain special people became interested in these wines and examined the bottles and labels, they would think that this wine was imported and not domestically "produced."

Even if they went abroad to look for it, they wouldn't replace this high proof fruit wine.

Today was just the first experimental production. Once the process and standards were confirmed, Julian wouldn't need to come by often. When a dozen barrels of blended high proof fruit wine were pushed out of the tightly closed factory doors, almost everyone was shocked.